2015 Concert Year in Review
Unlike 2014, I intentionally waited to do my concert year in review for 2015 so that I could better evaluate things with the hindsight of history. I'm pretty sure that did not actually help, but here is the written summary of the 60 bands I saw across 32 shows in 2015. First, I've put everyone in order below, with links to the relevant capsules, which I managed to write for 31 of the 32 shows.
Capsules #1 and #2
Fiscal Spliff Band - S 1/10 - Mahall's
Intonarumori - F 1/16 - CMA Gartner
Capsules #3 through #9 (excluding #5)
Murder By Death - W 2/25 - Grog Shop
Cyrille Aimée & Diego Figueiredo - W 3/04 - Nighttown
CityMusic Cleveland: with Joaquin Valdepeñas and Adele Anthony - F 3/13 - Lakewood Congregational Church [Listed in chronological order, covered in next capsule]
Roomful of Teeth - F 3/20 - CMA Gartner
Galactic - Su 3/22 - Beachland Ballroom
The Mivos Quartet - S 3/28 - Transformer Station
Barry Manilow w/Dave Koz - M 3/30 - Wolstein Center
Capsules #5 & #10
The Calder Quartet - T 4/14 - Transformer Station
Capsules #11 through #14
Kevin Danzig - W 4/22 - Bright Angel Lounge
FIDLAR - W 5/06 - Grog Shop
Matt Pond PA (Several Arrows Later 10th Anniversary) - T 5/12 - Grog Shop
Silencio - S 5/23 - Beachland Tavern
Capsules #15 through #22 (excluding #16)
White Lung w/Obliterations, Miss Melvis' Duo Decibel System - Su 6/14 - Beachland Tavern
Solstice: Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Escort, King Britt - S 6/20 - Cleveland Museum of Art
Wycliffe Gordon w/Cyrille Aimee - S 7/11 - Hanna Theatre
The Cleveland Orchestra (Dashon, Beethoven) - S 7/11 - Blossom
Ex Hex w/Tweens - R 7/16 - Grog Shop
Matt Pond PA - F 7/17 - My Living Room!
Artur Batalha - T 9/08 - Aviela do Fado
Studio-A-Rama 2015 - S 9/12
- Heavenly Creatures, ITEM, Half An Animal, Sweepyheads, Swirly in the Frye, Sammy Slims, Cheap Clone, Queen of Hell, Hiram-Maxim, Doug Gillard, MAN OR ASTRO-MAN?
Capsules #23 and #24
Matt Pond PA - R 10/01 - My Living Room!
Garth Brooks - S 10/10 - Quicken Loans Arena
Capsules #25 through #32
Nikki Lane w/Clear Plastic Mask - Su 11/08 - Beachland Tavern
Dear Rouge w/Rah Rah, Diverge - T 11/10 - Mahall's
Elvis Hitler w/Cult of the Psychic Fetus - S 11/14 - Beachland Tavern
Mephiskapheles w/Brazen Rogues - Su 11/15 - The Foundry
The King Khan & BBQ Show w/Milk Lines, Archie & the Bunkers - R 11/19 - Beachland Ballroom
Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas w/White Buffalo Woman - F 12/04 - Musica
The Arcs w/Mariachi Flor de Toloache - Akron Civic Auditorium - T 12/08
Sleater-Kinney w/Waxahatchee - House of Blues - W 12/09
In 2015, I made my first ever visit to the following Cleveland-area venues: Mahall's, The Foundry, inside Transformer Station, Musica, Lakewood Congregational Church. I'm pretty sure it was the first time I ever saw a concert in the Hanna Theater.
Even better, most of the shows I went to in 2015 were solid, at worst. When I look back over the list there's nobody where I think they were terrible. The vast majority weren't even disappointing. I'm not sure if this because I went to relatively few "hell, I'm not doing anything else tonight" shows, or if because I'm getting better at picking shows to attend, or if I'm just being realistic about my expectations for shows, thereby minimizing the gap between good and bad shows. Or maybe I was just in a better mood. I've never been completely sure how much my enjoyment of a show is dependent on my mood and how much is dependent on the music. If I'm at a show with some good friends, and I have few drinks and do some dancing with a sold out crowd, am I guaranteed to have a better time than if I'm at a mostly empty venue by myself and I'm tired and don't feel like having a drink? I don't know, which is kind of terrifying in some ways.
Anyway, with all of these bands meeting expectations there were relatively few that stood out as being fantastic world beating shows, or at least not as I write this summary. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I think I'd trade a few terrible shows for a few incredible world beating shows, but since I don't get to choose that option, my list of top shows of 2015 is much less clear cut than it was in any prior year, so take it with a large grain of salt. Here were the top bands that almost made the cut:
Intonarumori
Wycliffe Gordon w/Cyrille Aimee
Ex Hex
Matt Pond PA (second time at my house)
Garth Brooks
Nikki Lane
Mephiskapheles
Counting down the top three shows:
[3] Dear Rouge w/Rah Rah. Let's be very clear: Rah Rah's 2015 release Vessels was is probably my pick for album of the year. They played a great show in a great venue. I had a great time. There's just one thing keeping them from the top of the list: they were the opening act. Headliner Dear Rouge was not particularly good, so I can't rate this any higher.
[2] White Lung w/Obliterations, Miss Melvis' Duo Decibel System. White Lung was everything I want in punk rock: loud and powerful and angry without being stupid. As a bonus, Obliterations were pretty good too.
[1] The King Khan & BBQ Show w/Milk Lines, Archie & the Bunkers. Archie & the Bunkers are pretty much my favorite local band right now. The King Khan & BBQ Show are a powerful mashup of art rock and punk rock, with over the top stage theatrics and plenty of loud angry rock and roll. The crowd was near capacity and happy to mosh. That said, I'm sure that this wasn't nearly as good as any of the top shows from 2003 onward. Heck, it might not be as good as the top 3 shows from any of those years. Such a problem to have, I know.
This was a decent year for opening acts. As mentioned, Rah Rah cracked the top 3, which is the highest I've rated an opening act since 2006 when Immaculate Machine ranked second. Archie & the Bunkers, Mariachi Flor de Toloache, White Buffalo Woman all put together more than credible opening gigs as well.
Capsules #1 and #2
Fiscal Spliff Band - S 1/10 - Mahall's
Intonarumori - F 1/16 - CMA Gartner
Capsules #3 through #9 (excluding #5)
Murder By Death - W 2/25 - Grog Shop
Cyrille Aimée & Diego Figueiredo - W 3/04 - Nighttown
CityMusic Cleveland: with Joaquin Valdepeñas and Adele Anthony - F 3/13 - Lakewood Congregational Church [Listed in chronological order, covered in next capsule]
Roomful of Teeth - F 3/20 - CMA Gartner
Galactic - Su 3/22 - Beachland Ballroom
The Mivos Quartet - S 3/28 - Transformer Station
Barry Manilow w/Dave Koz - M 3/30 - Wolstein Center
Capsules #5 & #10
The Calder Quartet - T 4/14 - Transformer Station
Capsules #11 through #14
Kevin Danzig - W 4/22 - Bright Angel Lounge
FIDLAR - W 5/06 - Grog Shop
Matt Pond PA (Several Arrows Later 10th Anniversary) - T 5/12 - Grog Shop
Silencio - S 5/23 - Beachland Tavern
Capsules #15 through #22 (excluding #16)
White Lung w/Obliterations, Miss Melvis' Duo Decibel System - Su 6/14 - Beachland Tavern
Solstice: Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Escort, King Britt - S 6/20 - Cleveland Museum of Art
Wycliffe Gordon w/Cyrille Aimee - S 7/11 - Hanna Theatre
The Cleveland Orchestra (Dashon, Beethoven) - S 7/11 - Blossom
Ex Hex w/Tweens - R 7/16 - Grog Shop
Matt Pond PA - F 7/17 - My Living Room!
Artur Batalha - T 9/08 - Aviela do Fado
Studio-A-Rama 2015 - S 9/12
- Heavenly Creatures, ITEM, Half An Animal, Sweepyheads, Swirly in the Frye, Sammy Slims, Cheap Clone, Queen of Hell, Hiram-Maxim, Doug Gillard, MAN OR ASTRO-MAN?
Capsules #23 and #24
Matt Pond PA - R 10/01 - My Living Room!
Garth Brooks - S 10/10 - Quicken Loans Arena
Capsules #25 through #32
Nikki Lane w/Clear Plastic Mask - Su 11/08 - Beachland Tavern
Dear Rouge w/Rah Rah, Diverge - T 11/10 - Mahall's
Elvis Hitler w/Cult of the Psychic Fetus - S 11/14 - Beachland Tavern
Mephiskapheles w/Brazen Rogues - Su 11/15 - The Foundry
The King Khan & BBQ Show w/Milk Lines, Archie & the Bunkers - R 11/19 - Beachland Ballroom
Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas w/White Buffalo Woman - F 12/04 - Musica
The Arcs w/Mariachi Flor de Toloache - Akron Civic Auditorium - T 12/08
Sleater-Kinney w/Waxahatchee - House of Blues - W 12/09
In 2015, I made my first ever visit to the following Cleveland-area venues: Mahall's, The Foundry, inside Transformer Station, Musica, Lakewood Congregational Church. I'm pretty sure it was the first time I ever saw a concert in the Hanna Theater.
Even better, most of the shows I went to in 2015 were solid, at worst. When I look back over the list there's nobody where I think they were terrible. The vast majority weren't even disappointing. I'm not sure if this because I went to relatively few "hell, I'm not doing anything else tonight" shows, or if because I'm getting better at picking shows to attend, or if I'm just being realistic about my expectations for shows, thereby minimizing the gap between good and bad shows. Or maybe I was just in a better mood. I've never been completely sure how much my enjoyment of a show is dependent on my mood and how much is dependent on the music. If I'm at a show with some good friends, and I have few drinks and do some dancing with a sold out crowd, am I guaranteed to have a better time than if I'm at a mostly empty venue by myself and I'm tired and don't feel like having a drink? I don't know, which is kind of terrifying in some ways.
Anyway, with all of these bands meeting expectations there were relatively few that stood out as being fantastic world beating shows, or at least not as I write this summary. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I think I'd trade a few terrible shows for a few incredible world beating shows, but since I don't get to choose that option, my list of top shows of 2015 is much less clear cut than it was in any prior year, so take it with a large grain of salt. Here were the top bands that almost made the cut:
Intonarumori
Wycliffe Gordon w/Cyrille Aimee
Ex Hex
Matt Pond PA (second time at my house)
Garth Brooks
Nikki Lane
Mephiskapheles
Counting down the top three shows:
[3] Dear Rouge w/Rah Rah. Let's be very clear: Rah Rah's 2015 release Vessels was is probably my pick for album of the year. They played a great show in a great venue. I had a great time. There's just one thing keeping them from the top of the list: they were the opening act. Headliner Dear Rouge was not particularly good, so I can't rate this any higher.
[2] White Lung w/Obliterations, Miss Melvis' Duo Decibel System. White Lung was everything I want in punk rock: loud and powerful and angry without being stupid. As a bonus, Obliterations were pretty good too.
[1] The King Khan & BBQ Show w/Milk Lines, Archie & the Bunkers. Archie & the Bunkers are pretty much my favorite local band right now. The King Khan & BBQ Show are a powerful mashup of art rock and punk rock, with over the top stage theatrics and plenty of loud angry rock and roll. The crowd was near capacity and happy to mosh. That said, I'm sure that this wasn't nearly as good as any of the top shows from 2003 onward. Heck, it might not be as good as the top 3 shows from any of those years. Such a problem to have, I know.
This was a decent year for opening acts. As mentioned, Rah Rah cracked the top 3, which is the highest I've rated an opening act since 2006 when Immaculate Machine ranked second. Archie & the Bunkers, Mariachi Flor de Toloache, White Buffalo Woman all put together more than credible opening gigs as well.